As the climate change situation continues to worsen, people find themselves more and more inclined to make their voices heard and speak up about the environment before it's too late. On Saturday, September 26, another Montreal climate march occured to raise awareness on the issue.
Attended by about 1,000 people, the demonstration started at Place du Canada at 1 p.m. and ended roughly at about 2 p.m.
This "common societal project" was organized in a group effort by Debout Pour La Dignité, la Coalition étudiante pour un virage environnemental et social (CEVES), La Planète s'invite au parlement, Climate Justice Montreal, XR Youth Québec, Pour Le Futur Montréal, Defund The Police Coalition, and Solidarité sans frontières announce.
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The Demonstration Outlined Four Demands
In a release posted earlier on Tuesday, September 22, the organizers outlined four demands and goals of the march:
- Net-zero emissions in 10 years, by the year 2030.
- Status for all migrant persons.
- The defunding and demilitarization of police.
- The full and unconditional recognition of Indigenous solidarity.
The Facebook event page goes into further detail of each item.
"We are marching today because there's work to do. Our world is in danger, our communities are in danger."
"If we don't make systematic changes to the way we heal our trauma, deal with issues such as climate change, racialized people, migrant workers, and our most vulnerable communities, we won't have a future we can recognize," says Elijah Olise co-spokesperson for The Racial Justice Collective and Defund the Police Coalition.
This Was A Peaceful Protest
A representative from the SPVM told MTL Blog that the march was very peaceful.
"Protesters were very respectful and the entire event was peaceful."
MTL Blog also reached out to Elijah Olise, who said "The police did arrest someone but released him with a promise to appear."
"We were peaceful, the police weren't. They asserted their dominance and blocked off paths for us to march."
"They say we were peaceful, so why not treat us like that?"
Olise also informed us that almost everybody, except for one attendee, "wore a mask and that COVID-19 safety protocols were practiced by all."
The Event Took Place Almost A Year After The Initial Climate Change March
The event took place almost one year after the initial climate change march on September 27, 2019. Led by Swedish climate change activist, Greta Thunberg, and attended by an estimated 500,000 people, it was the largest protest in Quebec's history.
According to the Facebook event for this year's demonstration, "Despite the 540,000 people in the streets across Quebec, no substantial political response followed. None."
"The major goal was to say it's a year later, but we've grown as a community. There was sense of urgency among the group, even though we're in code orange, it showed that people realize that this is an urgent matter and we need to act NOW," Olise said.
"Francois and the government are decision-makers, but not knowledge holders. They need to make decisions for our futures, that they aren't even going to be there for."